


In the Dark

by actually_its_cady



Category: Jagged Little Pill - Morissette & Ballard/Morissette/Cody
Genre: MJ is such a good mom y'all, Nightmares, my favorite mother/daughter duo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-02-23 11:10:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23710573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actually_its_cady/pseuds/actually_its_cady
Summary: Frankie has a nightmare. MJ is there to help.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> TW for mention of overdose.
> 
> Let me know what y'all think, and sorry for any typos!

MJ wasn’t sleeping.

It wasn’t an unusual occurrence by any means- nightmares had been keeping her up for nearly 20 years, and she could run on a few hours a night. But she hadn’t woken from a nightmare, she had just never fallen asleep.

Beside her, Steve snored gently. He was asleep, and the kids were asleep, but something in the back of MJ’s brain was telling her something was off.

Like when you leave the house and think you might have left the curling iron on. Something was nagging her- the dishwasher? Had she started it? Thinking back, MJ thought that she might not have started it, and quietly slipped out of bed to make sure it was running.

Flipping on the light above the stairs, MJ made her way to the kitchen, and was almost shocked to hear the gentle hum of the dishwasher. She had been so sure it was off, and that it was this instinctive feeling that was keeping her up. Now, she felt almost silly. Surely nothing was wrong, and her MJ mom instincts were just misfiring. The dishwasher was on, the kids were sleeping, they were all fine. 

MJ crept back up the stairs, pausing at the top to adjust the thermostat before she went back to bed. As she was about to turn off the hall light, she heard a noise from Frankie’s room.

MJ froze. She wasn’t sure what she had heard, but she definitely heard something. Slowly, she inched towards Frankie’s door, then sped up when she heard more noise.

She cracked the door to Frankie’s bedroom, allowing the light from the hallway to spill in. Frankie was in bed, asleep, but kicking at the blanket and whimpering softly. MJ took a step into her bedroom to confirm her suspicion- Frankie was having a nightmare.

MJ froze. Frankie had always had nightmares when she was little, but she hadn’t had one in years, as far as MJ knew. And MJ didn’t quite know what to do. Sure, she had nightmares all the time, but she had Steve to calm her down, and she didn’t know if Frankie would react the same way.

Ignoring her uncertainty, MJ approached Frankie’s bed and sat gently on the edge, placing a hand on her daughter’s arm.

“Frankie, sweetheart” she whispered into the darkness. “Frankie, honey, wake up”.

Almost immediately, Frankie shot up, eyes open wide in panic. MJ jumped back, startled by the sudden movement, but steadied herself and reached for Frankie’s hand, running her thumb in a circular pattern.

“Hey, hey, sweetie, it’s okay. You’re okay,” MJ said softly. 

MJ heard Frankie take a deep breath as she reached forward to turn on the lamp next to Frankie’s bed. Once her eyes adjusted to the brightness, MJ looked at Frankie, whose eyes were scanning the room rapdily, like she was looking for something. Or someone. Her breathing was shallow, and sweat covered her forehead. 

“Frankie, honey, look at me.You’re okay. Take a breath and look at me, sweetie”, MJ said.

Frankie’s eyes locked on MJ as she came back to reality.

“There you go. You’re okay, come back to me Frankie. Come back.”

Slowly, Frankie’s breathing returned to normal, and she sat leaned against her headboard while MJ held her hand. After a few moments, MJ spoke.

“Are you okay? You… you haven’t had a nightmare like that in a really long time.”

Frankie nodded slowly before whispering, “I’m okay”.

“Do you remember what it was about?”

Instantly, Frankie looked away from MJ, casting her gaze to her lap.

MJ inhaled sharply, her gut telling her that she might already know the answer to her own question.

Frankie’s lip was quivering now, and MJ held her hand tighter. “Frankie, honey, what happened?”

Frankie took a shaky breath before dissolving into tears. 

Instantly, MJ moved next to her on the bed and wrapped her in a hug, running a hand over Frankie’s back. Frankie was shaking against her, holding MJ so tightly it was impacting MJ;s ability to breathe. Still, she held Frankie just as tightly and whispered comforts in her ear. 

She didn’t know how much time had passed before Frankie pulled away.

“I…” Frankie started.

MJ took her hand again. “Whatever it is, you can tell me”.

Frankie started again.  
“I had a dream that… that you overdosed. And I was trying to save you and you weren’t waking up because I was too late, and-”

MJ cut her off with a hug. “Oh, honey”.

Frankie relaxed into MJ’s embrace, smelling the familiar smell of her shampoo and letting her mom rub her back.

“I’m right here, Frankie. I’m okay now. I promise. I’m right here”, MJ whispered.

“Have you had that dream before?”

She felt Frankie nod against her.

MJ’s heart shattered. Even after her overdose, Frankie had maintained her status as the loudest and most outspoken Healy, and while they had had some serious discussions, Frankie always kept her sense of humor and her confidence. MJ had no idea that she was struggling this much.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked while releasing Frankie from her arms. Calmer now, Frankie simply shrugged.

“I didn’t want to give you another thing to worry about”.

“Frankie, look at me. I am your mom. It is my job to worry about you, okay? No matter what happens, you and your brother are always my first priority. Always. Okay?”

Frankie nodded silently.

MJ took a breath and softened slightly. “I have nightmares too, sometimes.”

Frankie looked at her sideways. “Really?”

MJ nodded. “All the time. Normally they’re about…” she trailed off, but they both knew what she meant. 

“And normally, after I have one, I like to put on different pajamas and try to go back to sleep. How does that sound?”

“Yeah”, Frankie said softly. 

Getting up from the bed, MJ walked to Frankie’s closet and pulled out a new shirt and pajama bottoms and handed them to Frankie. While she was changing, MJ looked around her room. Long gone were the days of embroidery and flowers covering her walls. Now it was political stickers, an assortment of posters from Frankie’s rallies, and pictures of bands MJ had never heard of, though she did note one remaining Taylor Swift poster near the door.

Frankie had gotten so old so fast, MJ couldn’t wrap her head around it. One day she ahd woken up and Frankie had just stopped needing her. She didn’t need help with homework, she made Nick drive her around- and all of a sudden MJ’s little girl was a teenager who didn’t want anything to do with her.

“Mom?” Frankie’s voice interrupted MJ’s thoughts.

“Can you… can you stay here? Until I fall asleep?” Frankie asked in a voice so low MJ barely heard it.

“ ‘Course I can, honey”, MJ replied. 

Frankie climbed into bed and MJ laid on top of her covers, heart warming as Frankie snuggled up against her. MJ rubbed her back and watched as Frankie’s body slowly relaxed into sleep. Instead of leaving and going back to her bedroom though, MJ reached over to turn off the light and snuggled up next to Frankie, just in case she had another nightmare.

When Steve woke a few hours later to an empty bed, he panicked. MJ wasn’t in her closet or their bathroom, and Steve was worried. Making his way down the hall, he noticed Frankie’s bedroom door open. Moving to close it, Steve stopped when he saw Frankie and MJ curled up into each other, Frankie snoring softly. He watched them for a moment, wondering how MJ had ended up with their teenage daughter essentially sleeping on top of her, but figured he would find out soon enough. Gently, he closed the door and went back to bed, leaving his wife and daughter sleeping in each other's arms.


End file.
